Story Hour Authors! A few questions...

[Dr Midnight]

Hi. Just an excuse for authors to pimp their Story Hours (stories hour?) and kill some time with useless questions.

1. How many sessions deep are you into your story? (meaning- how many single game sessions have you written up for your SH so far?)

2. Everyone seems to agree that a successful story hour can only come about as a result of passion on the writer's part for the story, not the glory. Still, how much do you value reader feedback?

3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?

4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views?

5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up? Examples could include a total party kill or heavily hyped bad guy going down in the first round, etc... Things that just don't really happen in epic fantasy fiction.

6. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH?

7. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH writing style?

8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game?

9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?

10. If your story hour were published in novel form, paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser: several paragraphs from the story to hook the attention of a browsing bookstore patron. EDIT: quick note- people seem to think I mean the same old "give us a few paragraphs about your SH". I mean "Give us a few paragraphs FROM your SH".

11. Give us a link, pookie.

 

[Plane Sailing]

{edited for format and fragment in Q10}

OK, I'll try to give some answers for my Kyri Campaign storyhour...

1. How many sessions deep are you into your story?

I've probably written up about 30-40 sessions so far (most sessions being broken up over several posts)

2. How much do you value reader feedback?

Reader feedback is like a rare pearl, much appreciated. I don't get much feedback (apart from the occasional burst) but the occasions when someone chimes in to say that they liked something is quite uplifting!

3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?

One of my players comes here and reads the storyhour, and that is just in the last month or so. None of my other players do.

4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views?

I value the page views column immensely. I don't pay much attention to PC's or others page counts... the key thing is that I know that even if nobody is responding, people are reading the thread. It eliminates the "talking in a void" feeling that I used to sometimes get in the older forums with no page views.

5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up?

Probably the occasion way back in the "depths of rage" scenario when there was pretty much a TPK... and one of the highest level PC's bled to death because the lilly-livered druid hid in his obscuring mist until the spell expired, and totally wrote off the possibility of trying to help the dying. Set the campaign back about 3 months with so many new 1st level characters coming in (they had been 4th-5th level)

6. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH?

Personally I like: Characters with character, interesting situations, not too wordy.

7. What "three" things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH writing style?

Personally? Short paragraphs, appropriate humour, good visuals

8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game?

I'm one and a half sessions behind, hoping to get caught up by my next run which is on the 24th.

9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?

No, never.

10. paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser.

Azrin sums up the situation – Syl is weakened, K’tan has no power left and can only use his crossbow, and M’ir is still brain-locked. If nobody goes to Dala’s aid, the young sorcerer is doomed. Without any more thought, and with bravery that the young librarian would never have imagined when he left his cloistered halls last year, Azrin tumbles down from the opening, landing behind the goblin and landing a solid blow against it, knocking its crown off.

Thimdrul the troll thing stalks nearer, and the huge claws turn two dimensional and impossibly sharp…

Lysander finally takes down the barbarian goblin who had been hacking at him, and his remaining gnoll opponent.

Azrin, having distracted the goblin prince, backs off and starts to cast a spell – but he underestimated the trollish reach of Thimdrull, and as an AoO a casual swipe tears his head clean away from his body, slicing neatly through his garments and bones with equal ease. Blood fountains from his neck as he falls.

Dala casts defensively and blasts the trollish figure with lightning. Syl and K’tan both fire their missile weapons and K’tan shouts out “He’s a METAMORPH”

Galvanised into action, Lysander picks up the magic sword which the goblin barbarian had been using against him and charges in to attack Thimdrul with the unfamiliar weapon. Likewise, the stabilised Trajan gulps down a healing potion and rises from the floor swinging his Harthar-wrought sword into action. Electricity and lawful energy flare as both weapons strike home.

Thimdrul swings back at his attackers, but is somewhat off balance and misses wildly, gouging furrows in the copper plated floor. Nevertheless, some of his wounds heal while they are watching. The goblin prince runs across to Azrins body and grasps a wand, attempting to use it against Trajan and Lysander – but holds it by the wrong end and burning flames lick out and end his miserable life

DMsnote: he rolled particularly badly on his “use magic device” and I’m quite brutal when someone does this with wands – normally explodes in their face

Several of the remaining gnolls and goblins have started running for the exit where the mummified dragon body is – and Dala whips out his recently acquired fireball scroll, launching a fiery pellet into their midst which blossoms into a scarlet flower of death, scattering their bodies.

Thimdrul doesn’t like the way the odds are going, and suddenly shifts form into a small bird – flying up and over the heads of his attackers, being clipped by their swords on the way, he speeds back into the concealing darkness by the head of the dead dragon.

Battered and bloody, the company assess their situation. Darra in particular looks across at the body of Azrin, without whose sacrifice he would certainly have died. Then grim-faced they turn to look at the remains of the dead dragon in the next room...


11. Give us a link, pookie.

part 1 (Sunless Citadel, Depths of Rage, Candlemakers Fire, Speaker in Dreams)
http://test.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=122&perpage=10&pagenumber=1

part 2 (RttToEE)
http://test.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4070

part 3 (of Sound Mind, Dragon hunt, Tower of Evil, the Standing Stone and onwards)
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6689

Cheers!

 

[Piratecat]

The biggest problem with page views is that a low page view story hour could easily be the best one on the site, but not yet discovered by the folks who read here. That's why I love to see it when people find stories that they like, and mention it in their sigs and other threads. The more people who know about the cool, lesser-known threads, the better.

I've wondered about how valuable page views are, myself. But since the vast majority of readers don't post, I think they're a valuable way for an author to find out when pewople are reading their work. To me, that outweighs any negatives.

1. How many sessions deep are you into your story?

The campaign is about 270 sessions old. My storyhour is roughly fifty or sixty sessions, as far as I can guesstimate.

2. How much do you value reader feedback?

I think reader feedback is incredibly important. Knowing that anyone else thinks it's cool enough to comment on is what makes a lot of people keep posting.

3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?

90%? I think they all do, but some check in less often than others.

4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views?

Hey, look! A three headed monkey!

5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up?

Nothing embarrassing, I think. There have been a few scenes that I never thought I'd be able to do justice to in print; Malachite confronting the skeletal Aleax, for example. Those are a bitch to write up.

6. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH?

- Good spelling and grammar, including spacing paragraphs with a blank line.
- An interesting plot that other people can steal ideas from.
- An entertaining, colorful or descriptive writing style.

7. What "three" things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH writing style?

- Skipping over the boring bits and focusing on the fun and exciting parts
- More frequent short posts are much, much better than fewer long posts.
- Vibrant descriptions. I want to be able to see the place, to smell it.
- Communicating's the PCs personalities, without writing page after page of exact quotes and verbiage
- I personally love little DM asides, rules clarifications, and amusing comments.

8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game?

Two and a half.

9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?

Nope. I think I've made the game more interesting since I realized other people were reading about it, though. I certainly am more scrupulous about correctly statting out my monsters. Although I occasionally misattribute quotes, I try really hard to not insert stuff that didn't happen.

10. paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser.

• 
  
  The ghouls swarm upwards, probably eighty or a hundred scrabbling into sight. Most seem to have once been dwarves or gnomes; their small hands now sport long claws, and sharpened teeth can be seen through the rat’s nest of sparse dwarven beards.
  
  Velendo stops grumbling long enough to notice that the ground is shaking.
  
  “What the…?”
  
  Before he can do anything, the hillside under their feet erupts into a shower of dirt and a rising juggernaut of slimy, rotting gray flesh. At first the group thinks it’s an undead purple worm; as both Tao and Velendo disappear into its huge mouth, that’s certainly their first impressions. But as the creature engulfs them, they realize that they’re wrong. Like grasping cilia, the inside of the worm’s mouth is filled with ghoulish arms, clutching and tearing, and dozens of screaming heads that barely poke their way out of the fleshy wall and tongue.
  
  Someone screams.
  
  To the horror of people watching, the outside skin of the worm pulses grotesquely and then turns… shuffling itself around and revealing that each 5 ft. section of the worm’s body is the torso of a ghoul, somehow flesh-merged together. Now the worm looks more like a humongous centipede, only with ghoulish arms clutching anything nearby, instead of a centipede’s legs. The monster throws its blind snout skywards, and hundreds of half-seen gibbering mouths slobber and drool in hunger.
  
  Inside its gullet, Tao manages to lock one hand around the razor sharp bone-like protrusion of the lip; Velendo, who has never been terribly strong, isn’t as lucky. The raising of the snout breaks his grip, and dozens of clawed arms grab him and force him down the long throat, tearing at his flesh as he goes. He feels negative energy coursing through his body, and his screaming muscles lock in place.

And the cover art for the scene, by littlejohn!

11. Give us a link, pookie.

Start right here!

 

[Ziona]

1. How many sessions deep are you into your story? (meaning- how many single game sessions have you written up for your SH so far?)

For the Rappan Athuk SH, it was in or nearing the 30's. For CotSQ, I am just about to post the 1st.

2. Everyone seems to agree that a successful story hour can only come about as a result of passion on the writer's part for the story, not the glory. Still, how much do you value reader feedback?

I get great pleasure from writing, but reader feedback is wonderful! It's nice to know someone is reading your work, whether they comment that it's good or bad. I love feedback and reader responses.

3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?

I would say about 90%

4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views?

I value it, especially when I start a thread, but after awhile, I don't go as crazy.

5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up? Examples could include a total party kill or heavily hyped bad guy going down in the first round, etc... Things that just don't really happen in epic fantasy fiction.

I dunno...I love writing it all. I know character deaths aren't fun, but it's great to write them up, so I don't think there is anything that would be my "worst."

6. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH?

*Grammar
*Setting/Description
*Character/Storyline

7. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH writing style?

*Descriptions
*Character (for PCs & NPCs)
*Rhythm (some writers just have this rhythm that helps their stories flow really well, like a good poem.)

8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game?

hehe...several...many...I'm catching up though!

9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?

I'm not a DM...just a bard. But I would discourage it.

10. If your story hour were published in novel form, paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser: several paragraphs from the story to hook the attention of a browsing bookstore patron.

Hmmm...that's something to think about...it would have to mention heroes with unique attributes and abilities and world-saving madness...sounds like a comic more, I guess.

11. Give us a link, pookie.

Just click on my Ziona banner below...and don't call me "pookie!"

 

[drnuncheon]

Let's see.

1. We're on session eleven of Book Two - I think there were 15 in Book One, plus an epilogue - so 27 sessions, roughly. (Wow. Seems like more.)

2. Reader feedback is incredibly important. Reader feedback makes me want to post more and update more often. No feedback kills Story Hours dead.

Actually, I like discussion even better than just "great update!", because it means my story hour really excites people and gets them thinking (although of course I don't mind being Horacio'ed...)

3. What percentage of my players read? For Freeport, 100% - all both of them. (I'm not sure if Sen-Jyu reads dnOSH, though, so maybe only 66% for that one.)

4. I compulsively sort by page view every few weeks, and then mentally add in the views from my previous thread to make me feel better.

5. I skip those, or find some clever way around them. Like the extended hack and slash session that was the asylum.

6. I agree with Pkitty on what's important here.

7. Putting some care into your writing is a big part of it. If i see a story hour thats written all in runon sentences without capitlization and spellng like this then it is very hard to read and i probably wont do it.

8. Er. (checks notebook) Two and a half. Phew, I thought it was more than that.

9. Only once - at the beginning of Book Two, where I conspired with my players to give the readers a bit of a surprise.

10. I would put the 'Please don't sue me nice Mr. Pramas' message on the first page, since I started out with the Freeport modules and he might be a bit upset that I was selling a novel based on them. For the Online Story Hour, it'd be 'please don't keelhaul me nice Mr. Kulp'

11. Check the .sig, that's what it's there for!

 

[Dr Midnight]

1. How many sessions deep are you into your story? (meaning- how many single game sessions have you written up for your SH so far?)

42, not including a lengthy "interlude" write-up

2. Everyone seems to agree that a successful story hour can only come about as a result of passion on the writer's part for the story, not the glory. Still, how much do you value reader feedback?

I really love it. Recently, I learned that I love negative reader feedback, as a far rarer delight that few readers want to give you. It's got a different flavor, but it still means someone's interested inough in the SH to offer his/her thoughts.

3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?

60%. Dartan's occasional posts don't fool me.

4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views?

Yes and yes.

5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up? Examples could include a total party kill or heavily hyped bad guy going down in the first round, etc... Things that just don't really happen in epic fantasy fiction.

It certainly wasn't easy writing up the teleportation into the dragon's lair, but the worst had to be writing up the confrontation with the immense titan, that went under with the first spell thrown in combat: Stone to flesh.

Man, did that suck.

6. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH?

-A feeling of urgency... or at least purpose
-"smell the roses" time, wherein we see the characters celebrating a victory or reaping the rewards of saving the realm
-minimal references to things that don't feel like epic fantasy (to me, this means drow, planes, psionics, etc.)

7. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH writing style?

-Leaving almost every story post on a cliffhanger.
-Really detailed place and character description. See Piratecat's "I want to smell it" line.
-Spelling, grammar. With out it, i ain't reading you're story our.

8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game?

Precisely one

9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?

Yes and yes. It's stupid, and I know it, but I sometimes try to "fix" stuff so it'll be better to READ about. I'm trying to quit, and down to one pack a day.

10. If your story hour were published in novel form, paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser: several paragraphs from the story to hook the attention of a browsing bookstore patron.

The trapdoor above them on the third floor rattled as things tried to pry it up. Leathery wings flapped against the windows. Glass broke. Things bumped and clawed against the blockades placed against the windows. A wing flapped madly from between the wall and a curio cabinet. "This isn't going to hold them off. we've got to go downstairs," Erasmus said.

Jamison seemed ready for the decree and opened the padlock with a gesture of his fingers and an arcane word. They rushed into the crypt. Jamison was last inside, and heard the flapping of wings- within the house. He quickly slammed the huge metal door shut behind them. The sound was like thunder in the damp stairwell they found themselves in.

They began to descend. The staircase went on for about a hundred feet into the earth. The sounds of dripping water and echoes accompanied their nervous breaths and bootsteps. The stairs ended, and a room opened before them. Erasmus thrust Hannah's everburning torch before him, to light the room.

They saw in that moment a dozen undead standing still at random parts of the room, the mouths open, facing them. The ones at the far end of the room weren't reached by the light, but their eyes shone red in the darkness. Wights. They began to move towards the party- and were stopped by something. They'd each walked into an invisible barrier of some sort.

Jamison nervously took out the book and read. "It seems that the living Mormonts constructed this room to contain their dead relatives without hurting them. They knew the corpses would rise and attempt to climb the stairs, so they built this room with invisible walls, and only one true path to the other side."

"A maze," Hannah said, unbelieving. A labyrinth of invisible walls, filled with hungry wights.

11. Give us a link, pookie.

To read the entire story up until now, click here.
Volumes I-III on the old ENboards should be back sometime...?... with reader commentary.
Volume IV (on ENboards with reader commentary) can be read here.
Volume V (on ENboards with reader commentary) can be read here.
Volume VI (on ENboards with reader commentary) can be read here.
CURRENT THREAD (VOLUME VII): http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23664

 

[Sniktch]

OK, I'll bite

I like the page views, personally. I don't pay attention to them when looking for a good read, since it might just be a new thread that no one else has discovered yet, but again, it's nice knowing I'm not sending my work into a vacuum.

See how I can do with these answers:

1) In the CotSQ thread we are two sessions deep. Overall, we have probably played about 50 or 60 6-12 hour sessions. I have no idea exactly what session I am on in my Prelude story hour, since I am recreating events from up to 1 1/2 years ago.

2) Reader feedback is wonderful! I welcome comments and constructive criticism, since part of why I started doing this was to get in the habit of flexing my creative muscles for a couple of hours each day.

3) I believe all of my players read the story at this point.

4) Yes, I do value the page views. Besides, we all know PC generated his high count by sitting there hitting 'Refresh' a few thousand times

5) Nothing too bad. I think the worst so far is when Quinn turned the animated staue into a cube after waiting a month to find out what would happen. Very anti-climactic for me. My worst moments are when I forget how things really happened or give credit to the wrong player, but luckily they don't jibe me too badly for my mistakes.

6) OK, PC stole my answer. I have nothing to add that he hasn't said already.

7) Short posts! I haven't decided the perfect length but I have yet to post anything in my threads of over 4 pages of 12 point font. It's intimidating.
Keeping the action moving. If I get too bogged down with a scene or I decide that it doesn't really add anything to write it up, I just sum it up and move to the next action sequence.
Cool characters. Part of what drew me into the Story Hour in the first place was Ziona and Doc Midnight's threads. I saw those character banners in some other forum and said, "Hey, I gotta check that out." I like seeing groovy characters and villains fleshedout so that I can lift them for use in my games.

8) CotSQ is completely up to date. I am still about a year behind on the other thread.

9) No, although I believe the story has made both myself and my players more aware of the continuity of the story line and staying in character.

10) EDIT: Oh, I see, sorry 'bout that. Here's a teaser from my CotsQ thread.

Bebilith nest
They stepped through the illusionary wall and found themselves in another large catacomb area, this one draped with thick layers of heavy webbing. Jack stepped into the chamber, his axe still crackling with blue arcs of electrical energy, and started into the room cautiously, the others trailing behind him.

Suddenly the fabric of space seemed to tear in front of him and a grotesque monster stepped through to the material plane. It resembled a huge, bloated spider with a mottled purple shell, its twisted abdomen curving in upon itself and ending in a pair of spinnerets that faced forward. The foremost pair of its legs ended in huge scythes of hardened exoskeleton. The fiend scuttled towards him, its razor sharp appendages raised to cut him down, while a second beast materialized in the webbing hanging from the ceiling and sprayed a sheet of web at Quinn, immobilizing her in a cocoon of dark silk.

Jack jumped forward and hacked at the creature but his axe bounced away with no effect! In response, it drove one of its claws into the seam at his shoulder, ripping a gaping wound across his chest and tearing his platemail off to fall bent and twisted to the floor, ruined. The naked dwarf staggered away bleeding, his shield raised to ward off any other incoming blows.

Malobar rolled under it and struck at the belly, hoping to find a weak point. His attack was rewarded when his short blade made a tiny crack in its shell and foul black liquid began oozing out. The magic of the sword should ensure that the wound did not cease bleeding until the creature was dead. In retaliation the creature bit into him, injecting viscous green venom that immediately began draining his constitution.

Welby and Grick also charged the monster on the floor, dodging through another spray of webs from the one above them. Grick pulled his butterfly swords as he rushed in and cut into it several times, while Welby rolled past into a flanking position and hacked the spinnerets from its abdomen with a well-placed blow, ensuring that this creature, at least, was unable to cocoon any more victims.

The beast whirled around in a rage, biting into the half-orc and injecting him with its deadly poison as well and ripping the shirt right off Welby’s body as a talon impaled the diminutive barbarian. Malobar lunged in and managed to open another small crack in the creature’s chitinous exoskeleton and another thin stream of black blood dripped from the wound, but the creature seemed to shrug off their combined efforts and appeared barely wounded.

11) links are in the sig

 

[Silver Moon]

Author Poll

1. How many sessions deep are you into your story?

So far around 20, about two chapters per gaming session. I've been posting two chapters each day, one in the morning the other at night.

2. Everyone seems to agree that a successful story hour can only come about as a result of passion on the writer's part for the story, not the glory. Still, how much do you value reader feedback?

It would be very helpful to know that people are enjoying the story. So far not many people seem to have found my story, but I am hoping that that changes.

3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?

Too early to tell. I only heard about this Internet site a few weeks ago, and have been posting since then. I have told my players about it, but am not sure how many have checked it out yet.

4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views?

Yes to the first question. It is helpful to know that other people are checking it out. No to the second question, as PirateCat is a friend of mine and was the one who told me about this Internet site (last month, way back when he was only at around 180K viewings).

5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up?

A joke that was really funny at the time, but did not translate at all well on the written page, so I wound up just summarizing the comment instead.

6. What three things would you say are most important in a good SH?

A brief description of the main characters at the beginning as an introduction to the reader; A good descriptive setting with well defined NPC's so that the reader can picture the story; enough sub-plots to keep the story interesting.

7. What three things would you say are most important in a good SH writing style?

A good flow to the story; a reasonably good vocabulary; running the text through a spellchecker before making the post.

8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game?

The story that I am currently posting was run in 2001. It lasted 36 games, so I'm now a little more than half way through.

9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?

I don't think that would be very ethical.

10. If your story hour were published in novel form, paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser: several paragraphs from the story to hook the attention of a browsing bookstore patron.


After a few minutes a stunning young woman enters the room. Whatever the members of the party had expected the offspring of a Chinese dwarf and Japanese human to look like, she far exceeds those expectations, having clearly inherited the best traits of both parents. Her age is a human equivalent of early twenties, and she stands slightly less than five feet in height. Unlike dwarven women, she has no beard. She has a head of beautiful long curly brown hair, of a color and texture clearly inherited from her dwarven genes. Her face has a round shape to it, with a pleasant smile and sparking Oriental eyes. Her body barely hints of the typical dwarven stockiness, with a trim waist, and projecting a voluptuous hourglass figure. The other aspect of her mixed parentage is that there is an indefinable exotic quality to her overall appearance. The dwarves Duegar and Lannon and the elf Mojo each became immediately infatuated with her.

Hiroshi embraces the young woman, introducing her as his eldest daughter, Kim-Sung. As the party introduce themselves it soon becomes obvious to both Narg and Serita that their companions are acting unusually assertive and exceptionally polite. This becomes even more apparent when Hiroshi states that Kim-Sung is a druid, and Mojo exclaims “How nice. I’ve always enjoyed the company of druids.” The shock of that comment causes the druid Serita to spit out the beverage she is drinking. Mojo then follows up with the comment to Hiroshi “Does she need a job, we’ve been looking for a new druid.” “Since when?” Serita yells. “Since now!” Lannon interjects.

“Father, we did not know that you were coming home,” Kim-Sung states. The party notices that, like Hiroshi, she speaks the Common language without any hint of an accent. He answers “Neither did I, as I only received permission to leave the city of Miyako two days ago. These people are friends of your cousin Toshiro, and I am assisting them on a mission to vanquish great evil. We have come to Chunming in search of information for this quest.” Mojo interjects “But we are in no hurry. I think we should stay here, and spend time getting to know Hiroshi’s family.” “Absolutely,” Duegar interjects. “It would be rude to leave soon,” Lannon adds. Narg and Serita exchange glances, with Narg softly saying, “Oh boy, I think we’ve got a new problem.”

11. Give us a link, pookie.

OK, the name is "Chinese Take-out" and the link is:

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28642

 

[Enk&D'Shai]

Hi all! Enkhidu here, and I figure it might be a good idea to answer some of these questions, especially since the Small Beginnings Story Hour I co-author with D'Shai527 seems to be one of the alternative story hours in the forum. But, after looking at the questions, many of them seem to be directed at the DMs of the various story hours.

So, I've managed to drag him away from working on one of our multiple projects long enough to help me answer the questions.

OK! Where's the free candy you promised me, Enk?

Sorry, D'shai - that was a ruse.

A what?

A ruse. A clever attempt to trick you. And it worked. Now answer some questions, DM-boy.

How many hit points do you have Enk?

Well, Ander has...

No. How many hit points do you have.

Oh. Uh... Why do you have that stick in your... OW! Stop beating me! I give! I give! Geez, you'd think I was hong or something.

That's what I thought. Now why did you really bring me here?

Questions. From Dr. Midnight.

Well, let's get to it!

1. How many sessions deep are you into your story? (meaning- how many single game sessions have you written up for your SH so far?)

Wow. That's a tough one, because they don't always match up. Maybe 7?

More like 6, though we could be as far as 8 or 9 by the end of the week (from the next post).

2. Everyone seems to agree that a successful story hour can only come about as a result of passion on the writer's part for the story, not the glory. Still, how much do you value reader feedback?

Reader feedback as an author is about as important to me as player feedback when I DM. If the readers aren't having fun, I might as well not be writing it.

For me, I've always looked at writing Small Beginnings as a learning experience. Reader feedback really helps to be a guage for how the finished product looks. Hopefully, we'll be able to take what we learn here and apply it to other projects. As an aside, I value criticism (constructive, at least) more highly than the "atta boys" that come down the pike.

3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?

Let's see, 5 of 7 people in the group total, 4 of 6 players. Though we're still trying to get more players to take a gander at it.

Yeah, but we're still trying to get those two people housetrained, so reading is still a few steps up the ladder for them.

4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views?

PirateCat's going down! Move over, P-Kitty, a real pirate's coming through!

Uh, yeah. right. Seriously, that three legged cat's been doing this for so long that I don't even think about competing views wise with him (or Wulf, or Sagiro, or Sep). In fact, I say more power to 'em, and I'm glad that those guys have the noteriety that they do. Makes me think that one day Small Beginnings could help launch a venture into d20 publisher land (much like Wulf and P-Cat have done, though I imagine that they would have been able to do so with or without the name recognition from ENWorld).

5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up? Examples could include a total party kill or heavily hyped bad guy going down in the first round, etc... Things that just don't really happen in epic fantasy fiction.

Well, they say it eventually happens to every guy, so I don't really feel all that bad about...

No, Enk. Not that story. Not ever again. They mean about the story hour.

Oh.

From my "player's perspective, the worst moments are yet to come. I won't spoil the surprises by telling, but we'll just say that my dice hate me. And I mean that.

I can't wait to write about that one, cuz my dice hate you too.

6. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH?

Good characters (or just well roleplayed, in depth characters) during the actual sessions help a lot. A strong plot.... And plenty of time to write. Yup that's about right.

For the most part, I'd agree with that. Though I think that we should probably write with a dealine more often just to see how it comes out.

7. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH writing style?

Now that's a toughie, because it's really a matter of taste on this one. As a story hour reader, and trust me I've read more than a few of them, I like good formatting and grammar; a goodly amount of meaningful dialogue; and enough info about the characters to care about what they heck they're doing.

The 3 D's. Dialogue, description, and donuts. Everything is better with donuts.

8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game?

Urgh. More than 6 months worth, easy. But we got started on this really late.

9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?

No. But I have giggled when I thought about writing up a particualr scene.

Yeah, I hate that.

10. If your story hour were published in novel form, paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser: several paragraphs from the story to hook the attention of a browsing bookstore patron. EDIT: quick note- people seem to think I mean the same old "give us a few paragraphs about your SH". I mean "Give us a few paragraphs FROM your SH".

Athena spread her soft wings and floated out from the wooded settlement. The air was thin and sweet, much better than the thick heavy air of the stone dwelling than the owl and her bonded one used to nest in. The world shrank as Athena beat her wings against the warm updraft, gaining much needed height to carry out the bonded ones request. A mouse distracted the white owl for just a moment as it darted out from a fallen log beneath the green canopy of trees. Athena dipped her wings and banked toward her prey, but stopped short of diving into the trees as her keen eyes detected movement in the thickets that now shrouded the mouse in shadows.

The owl landed softly on an overhanging branch and looked carefully at the new growth that crowded the forest floor. Her natural instinct pulled at her from deep within her stomach, but the owl had grown accustomed to pushing them aside and imitating the inquisitive nature and patience of her soul friend. The bonded friend had needed a high view of the forest looking for dark ones and ground holes, but not the small ones that prey hid in. Once again spreading her feathers Athena leapt back onto the soft winds to complete her mission so that she may pay more attention to her growing hunger.

The ground spread quickly beneath her white wings and the forest was soon left behind. The vast plains stretched out below her but instead of the short grass that normally flourished on the ice covered ground, there was instead more of that strange bramble that Athena had seen in the wood. She circled for a moment puzzling over this odd phenomenon and finally coasted down for a closer search. The vines were much thicker out here and the thorns seemed to be seeping a dark liquid. The great owl's keen eyes also saw several animals that seemed trapped in the thorny underbrush, thrashing and kicking to escape but only succeeding in deeper cuts and further strangulation. Soon only carcasses littered the area and no movement was seen beneath the thick bramble either.

Athena's wings began to tire but a strange tingling told her it would be unwise to perch anywhere near the growing vines. Twisting her head her eyes caught sight of a large post protruding up from the ground and she quickly changed her angle to float towards it. Her talons dug deep into the woods and she opened her wings full to balance on the small beam. When she finally rested her full weight onto the perch it suddenly shifted throwing the owl back into the air. Athena watched as cracks emerged beneath the brambles surrounding the post and they suddenly tumbled into a great rift that now spanned directly beneath the bird.

Dust pushed up from the great rift as the perplexed owl once again landed on the wooden post which was now pointing out over the gorge instead of toward the sun. As the dust cleared Athena steadied her gaze down into the darkness of the rift. A huge stone nest, like the bonded one had stayed in while in the stone settlement, was nestled into the unsettled ground deep within the hole. Its top was covered with grass, but the stone walls of the nest supporting it were bare save for a winding wooden staircase that enclosed them.

Athena rested her wings for a few moments more, and then dropped from her perch and unfolded her wings, angling back the way she had come.

The bonded one would be pleased.

11. Give us a link, pookie.

Small Beginnings

 

[Capellan]

Company of the Random Encounter

1. How many sessions deep are you into your story? (meaning- how many single game sessions have you written up for your SH so far?)

I've written up to the end of the third session. I've posted up to the end of the second. I like to keep a buffer between where the campaign actually is and where the posting is up to. Which is probably a bad idea, since I miss out on extra views and *bumps*, but I like to post regularly and keep things moving, and doing it this way really helps.

On average, a session (4-6 hours play) runs for 12-15 posts.


2. Everyone seems to agree that a successful story hour can only come about as a result of passion on the writer's part for the story, not the glory. Still, how much do you value reader feedback?

It's very important. Anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves


3. What percentage of your own players read the story, would you say?

I send them all the story hour as it is written, so they see it well before it is posted here. The principle is that if I get something way wrong, they can call me on it before it turns up here. Not that they have, as yet - but they could.


4. Do you value the page views column on the main page? If so, do you feel like jumping from a bridge when you see Piratecat's views?

Sure I value it, though not as a "10" (I voted "6", for the record). There are a lot of good Story Hours which don't have tens of thousands of views. Mine, for instance

More seriously, there are a lot of great story hours out there. I pimped several recently, but I'll do so again:

Servants of the Swift Sword (A Kalamar campaign)
Sniktch's Story Hour Prelude - From the Beginning
Greenwood Traders: an FR Story Hour
Small Beginnings
Doom from Below: The Illithid Ascension
Sniktch's Story Hour - City of the Spider Queen
Milo Windby's Collected Story Hour
(Thanks to Wulf's book) Heroes of High Favor: A Dwarven Saga

As for the second part of the question: not at all. Piratecat's Story Hour is fabulous. It deserves every view it gets.


5. What's the worst in-game moment you've had to write up? Examples could include a total party kill or heavily hyped bad guy going down in the first round, etc... Things that just don't really happen in epic fantasy fiction.

Scratches. If you want to know more, you'll have to read the story


6. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH?

Passion for the game on the part of the writer(s).
The writers' technical skills and attention to formatting.
An inventive and exciting game.

Not necessarily always in that order.


7. What three things (single sentences each) would you say are most important in a good SH writing style?

Clarity - of expression.
Characterisation - of PC and NPC alike.
Consistency - of tone, pacing and spelling/grammar.

I got a "C" thing going on


8. How many sessions behind are you in your writing, compared to where the campaign actually is, in-game?

The writing is up to date.
The posting is one session - 15 posts in this case - behind.


9. Have you ever tried to turn events (discouraging a certain course of action, cheesing a rule, etc.) in-game for the benefit of the story hour? If so, have your players called you on it?

No. I don't need to - my players give me plenty of ammunition without any intervention on my part!


10. If your story hour were published in novel form, paste here what you would want as the first-page teaser: several paragraphs from the story to hook the attention of a browsing bookstore patron. EDIT: quick note- people seem to think I mean the same old "give us a few paragraphs about your SH". I mean "Give us a few paragraphs FROM your SH".

Fetterweed, the old monk explains, is a carnivorous plant that attacks by striking prey with its vines, which secrete a sedative-laced sap. Only by finding the trunk of the plant and destroying it, will the vines - which can stretch for hundreds of years - be rendered inert.

The group spends a considerable amount of time discussing strategies for attacking the fetterweed. They manage to determine that it senses the vibrations of passing creatures, though quite what a spectator would have thought of their experimental method - Stormstrider jumping up and down on the spot - is anyone's guess.

"Maybe we could set fire to it?" the Padre suggests.

"The plant's vines run for hundreds of yards." Ai Quan reminds him.

"Not seeing the problem. It'll all burn."

"The forest would catch fire."

"Still not seeing the problem."

"You are in the forest."

"OK. Now seeing the problem."


11. Give us a link, pookie.

It's in the sig.